I MADE FRIDAY A JACKET OF GOAT'S SKIN.... .rontispiece
PAGE
I DID MY UTMOST TO KEEP THE CHESTS IN THEIR
PLACE ....................... .. ................. 64
I CUT WITH MY KNIFE UPON A LARGE POST ......... 83
POLL NOW BEGAN TO BE MIGHTY WELL ACQUAINTED
W ITH M E............................................... 139
I MADE SOME EARTHEN VESSELS, VERY BROAD BUT
N OT DEEP ............................................. 155
I FIXED MY UMBRELLA IN A STEP AT THE STERN.... 168
So, TAKING NOTHING OUT OF MY BOAT BUT MY GUN
AND MY UMBRELLA, I BEGAN MY WALK ............ 175
I MADE IT MY BUSINESS TO TEACH HIM EVERY-
THING THAT WAS PROPER AND USEFUL .............. 223
I JUMPED UP AND WENT OUT THROUGH MY LITTLE
G ROVE ...................... ............................ 264

INTRODUCTION

F OR all who like adventure, this book will prove
an open gateway. Through it they may pass to
strange adventures on the high seas and on tropic
shores. With the young runaway hero they may es-
cape from hundrum, everyday existence into a thrill-
ing life of excitement and danger, of slavery and ship-
wreck. With him they may come to the desert island
where, alone for twenty-four years, he manages by
hard work and ingenuity to supply food, clothing,
and shelter for himself. They may share his terror
at the coming of the cannibals, and his joy when at
last he has a companion. They may be present dur-
ing the final swift-moving days, packed with peril and
excitement, that end in his escape.
Let no one think that this is drawn wholly from
the author's imagination. It is founded upon the ex-
periences of Alexander Selkirk, a Scotch lad who was
on a ship wrecked off the coast of Chile. The young
man was tossed by the sea upon the island of Juan
Fernandez which was uninhabited at that time. He
saved the supplies from the ship and lived for some
years alone on the island. How much DeFoe added
to Selkirk's adventures cannot now be told, but there
is no doubt that he interwove facts and fancies until
ix

INTRODUCTION

he produced a story unparalleled for its absorbing in-
terest.
Many a book of adventure has been written since
this one. Many a story has been centered around ship-
wreck and life on a desert island. It is interesting to
note, however, that Robinson Crusoe is the begin-
ning of all fictional adventure. Thousands of authors
have followed where DeFoe led, but his book still
holds the place it won two hundred years ago. It has
been translated into many languages and dialects, it
has charmed the story-loving Arabs, it is familiar to
the children in our island possessions, and it is avail-
able even in Esperanto.
One element of value in this book has often been
overlooked. With the greatly increased emphasis on
the social studies has come a problem of making our
pupils understand the tremendous significance in their
daily lives of the interdependence of occupations, social
groups, geographical regions, and, perhaps most im-
portant of all, of the nations of the earth. Robinson
Crusoe shows in striking contrast a purely independ-
ent individual life, wresting a rudimentary and la-
borious existence from a somewhat kindly natural
environment. The alert teacher of the social studies
will frequently use this background as an illuminating
contrast with the conditions and problems she wishes
to present.
A word as to the text may not be out of place.
Some long and involved sentences have been separated

INTRODUCTION

into two or more statements to suit modern readers.
However, care has been taken to preserve the exact
thought in every case. A few paragraphs have been
eliminated, but every incident in the life of Robinson
Crusoe from the time he first left home until the time
he was again settled in England is here set forth in
the words and the style used by Daniel DeFoe in 1719.
Only such notes have been given as seemed necessary,
but for the most part the unusual words and expressions
can be understood from their use in the text. In the
author's version there are no chapters, but in this
edition it has seemed desirable to divide the text into
chapters, though the division does not affect the story
itself.
Here then is The Life and Adventures of Robin-
son Crusoe, a book that started a new era in stories.
May all the boys and girls who read it now enjoy the
tale as did the old and young who read it two hun-
dred years ago. -Lora B. Peck.
PRIMARY SUPERVISOR, INDEPENDENT
sCsOOL DISTRICT, HOUSTON, TEXAS

THE LIFE AND ADVENTURES

OF
ROBINSON CRUSOE

CHAPTER I
THE FIRST VOYAGE
I WAS born in the year 1632, in the city of York, of
a good family, though not of that country. My
father was a foreigner of Bremen, who settled first
at Hull. He got a good estate by merchandise, and
leaving off his trade, lived afterwards at York. There
he married my mother, whose relations were named
Robinson, a very good family in that country. For
them I was called Robinson. Our English neighbors
corrupted my father's name into Crusoe, and there-
fore my playmates called me Robinson Crusoe.
Being the third son of the family, and not bred to
any trade, my head began to be filled very early with
rambling thoughts. My father, who was very. an-
cient, had given me a competent share of learning, as
far as house education and a country free school gen-
erally goes, and designed me for the law, but I would
be satisfied with nothing but going to sea. My in-
clination to this led me so strongly against the will,
1

ROBINSON CRUSOE

nay, the commands of my father, and against all the
entreaties and persuasions of my mother and other
friends, that there seemed to be something fatal in
that inclination leading directly to the life of misery
which was to befall me.
My father, a wise and grave man, gave me serious
and excellent counsel against what he foresaw was my
design. He called me one morning into his chamber,
where he was confined by the gout, and expostulated
very warmly with me upon this subject. He asked me
what reasons, more than a mere wandering inclination,
I had for leaving my father's house and my native
country, where I might be well introduced, and had a
prospect of raising my fortune by application and in-
dustry, with a life of ease and pleasure. He told me it
was for men of desperate fortunes on one hand, or of
aspiring superior fortunes on the other, who went
abroad upon adventures, to rise by enterprise, and
make themselves famous in undertakings of a nature
out of the common road. These things were all either
too far above me, or too far below me; mine was the
middle state. He had found by long experience that
this was the best state in the world, the most suited to
human happiness, not exposed to the miseries and
hardships, and not embarrassed with the pride, lux-
ury, ambition, and envy of the upper part of man-
kind. He told me that I might judge of the happiness
of this state by this one thing, namely, that this was
the state of life which all other people envied; that

ROBINSON CRUSOE

kings have frequently lamented the miserable conse-
quences of being born to great things, and have wished
that they had been placed in the middle of the two
extremes, between the mean and the great; that the
wise man gave his testimony to this, as the just stand-
ard of true felicity, when he prayed to have neither
poverty nor riches.
He bade me observe it, and I should always find
that the calamities of life were shared among the upper
and lower part of mankind; but that the middle station
had the fewest disasters, and was not exposed to so
many vicissitudes as the higher or lower part of man-
kind.
After this, he pressed me earnestly, and in the most
affectionate manner, not to play the young man, not
to precipitate myself into miseries which nature and
the station of life I was born in, seemed to have provided
against. He reminded me that I was under no necessity
of seeking my bread; that he would do well for me, and
endeavor to enter me fairly into the station of life which
he had just been recommending to me.
He pointed out to me that if I was not very easy
and happy in the world, it must be my mere fate or
fault that must hinder it, and that he should have
nothing to answer for, having thus discharged his
duty in warning me against measures which he knew
would be to my hurt; in a word, that as he would do
very kind things for me if I would stay and settle at
home as he directed, so he would not have so much

4 ROBINSON CRUSOE

hand in my misfortunes as to give me any encourage-
ment to go away.
My father went on to say that he would not cease
to pray for me, yet he would venture to say to me that
if I did take this foolish step, God would not bless me,
and I would have leisure hereafter to reflect upon hav-
ing neglected his counsel when there might be none to
assist in my recovery.
I was sincerely affected with this discourse, as, in-
deed, who could be otherwise, and I resolved not to
think of going abroad any more, but to settle at home
according to my father's desire. But, alas! a few days
wore it all off, and, in short, to prevent any of my
s father's further importunities, a few weeks afterwards
I resolved to run quite away from him. However, I
did not act so hastily as my first heat of resolution
prompted, but I took my mother, at a time when I
thought her a little pleasanter than ordinary, and told
her that my thoughts were so entirely bent upon seeing
the world that I should never settle to anything with
resolution enough to go through with it, and my father
had better give me his consent than force me to go with-
out it. I told her that I was now eighteen years old,
which was too late to go apprentice to a Irade, or
clerk to an attorney. Moreover, I was sure that, if I
did, I should never serve out my time, and I should
certainly run away from my master before my time
was out, and go to sea. I assured her that if she would
speak to my father to let me go but one voyage abroad,

ROBINSON CRUSOE 5

if I came home again and did not like it, I would go
no more, and I would promise by a double diligence to
recover that time I had lost.
This put my mother into a great passion. She
told me that she knew it would be to no purpose to
speak to my father upon any such subject. He knew
too well what was my interest to give his consent to
anything so much for my hurt. She wondered how I
could think of any such thing after such a discourse as
I had had from my father, and such kind and tender
expressions as she knew my father had used to me.
She said that, in short, if I would ruin myself, there
was no help for nie, but I might depend I should never
have their consent to it. For her part she would not
have so much hand in my destruction, and I should
Never have it to say that my mother was willing when
my father was not.
Though my mother refused to ask my father's per-
mission, yet, as I heard afterwards, she reported all
the discourse to him. My father, after showing a
great concern at it, said to her, with a sigh, "That
boy might be happy if he would stay at home, but if
he goes abroad, he will be the most miserable wretch
that was ever born; I can give no consent to it."
It was not till almost a year after this that I broke
loose, though in the meantime I continued obsti-
nately deaf to all proposals of settling to business, and
frequently expostulated with my father and mother
about their being so positively determined against

ROBINSON CRUSOE

what they knew my inclinations prompted me to. But
one day when I was at Hull, where I went casually, and
without any purpose of running away that time, one
of my companions who was about to sail to London
in his father's ship prompted me to go with them,
with the common allurement of seafaring men, that
it should cost me nothing for my passage. I consulted
neither father nor mother any more, nor so much as
sent them word of it. Leaving them to hear of it as
they might, without asking God's blessing, or my
father's, without any consideration of circumstances or
consequences, and in an ill hour-God knows-on the
first of September, 1651, I went on board a ship bound
for London. Never any young adventurer's misfor-
tunes, I believe, began sooner, or continued longer than
mine. The ship was no sooner gotten out of the Hum-
ber, but the wind began to blow, and the waves to-rise
in a most frightful manner. As I had.never been at
sea before, I was most inexpiessibly sick in body and
terrified in mind. I began now seriously to reflect
upon what I had done, and how justly I was overtaken
by the judgment of Heaven for my wicked leaving my
father's house, and abandoning my duty. All the
good counsel of my parents, my father's tears and my
mother's entreaties, came now fresh into my mind,
and my conscience, which was not yet come to the
pitch of hardness to which it has been since, reproached
me with the contempt of advice, and the breach of my
duty to God and my father.

ROBINSON CRUSOE

All this while the storm increased, and the sea,
which I had never been upon before, went very high,
though nothing like what I have seen many times
since; no, nor like what I saw a few days after; but it
was enough to affect me then, who was but a young
sailor, and had never known anything of the matter.
I expected that every wave would have swallowed us
up, and that every time the ship fell down, as I thought,
in the trough or hollow of the sea, we should never rise
more. In this agony of mind I made many vows and
resolutions, that if it would please God here to spare
my life this one voyage, if ever I got my foot upon
dry land again I would go directly home to my father,
and never set it into a ship again while I lived; that I
would take his advice, and never run myself into such
miseries as these any more. Now I saw plainly the
goodness of his observations about the middle station
of life, how easy, how comfortably he had lived all his
days, and never'had been exposed to tempests at sea
or troubles on shore. I resolved that I would, like a
true repenting prodigal, go home to my father.
These wise and sober thoughts continued all the
while the storm continued, and indeed some time after;
but the next day the wind was abated and the sea
calmer, and I began to be a little used to it. However,
I was very grave for all that day, being also a little
seasick still, but toward night the weather cleared up,
.the wind was quite over, and a charming fine evening
followed. The sun went down perfectly clear, and

ROBINSON CRUSOE

rose so the next morning. There was little or no wind,
and a smooth sea with the sun shining upon it, and
the sight was, as I thought, the most delightful that
ever I saw.
I had slept.well in the night, and was now no more
seasick, but very cheerful, looking with wonder upon
the sea that was so rough and terrible the day before,
and could be so calm and so pleasant in so little time
after. And now, lest my good resolutions should con-
tinue, my companion, who had indeed enticed me away,
comes to me.
"Well, Bob," says he (clapping me upon the shoul-
der), "how do you do after it? I warrant you were
frighted; wan't you, last night, when it blew but a cap-
ful of wind?"
"A capful do you call it?" said I. "It was a terrible
storm."
"A terrible storm, you silly creature?" replied he,
half laughing. "Do you call that a storm? Why, it
was nothing at all! Give us but a good ship and sea-
room, and we think nothing of such a squall of wind
as that; but you're but a fresh water sailor, Bob.
Come, let us make a bowl of punch, and we'll forget all
that. Do you see what charming weather it is now?"
To make short this sad part of my story, we went
the old way of all sailors; the punch was made, and I
was made drunk with it, and in that one night's
wickedness I drowned all my repentance, all my -e-
flections upon my past conduct, and all my resolutions

ROBINSON CRUSOE

for my future. In a word, as the sea was returned to
its smoothness of surface and settled calmness by the
abatement of that storm, so the hurry of my thoughts
being over, my fears and apprehensions of being swal-
lowed up by the sea being forgotten, and the current
of my former desires returned, I entirely forgot the
vows and promises that I made in my distress. I
found indeed some intervals of reflection, and the
serious thoughts did, as it were, endeavor to return
again sometimes; but I shook them off, and roused
myself from them as it were from a distemper, and ap-
plying myself to drink and company, soon mastered
the return of those fits, for so I called them. Thus in
five or six days I had got as complete a victory over
conscience as any young fellow that'resolved not to be
troubled with it could desire. But I was to have an-
other trial for it still, and Providence, as in such cases
generally it does, resolved to leave me entirely without
excuse. For if I would not take this for a deliverance,
the next was to be such a one that the worst and most
hardened wretch among us would confess both the
danger and-the mercy.
The sixth day of our being at sea we came into Yar-
mouth Roads. The wind having been contrary and
the weather calm, we had made but little way since the
storm. Here we were obliged to come to an anchor,
and here we lay, the wind continuing contrary, namely,
at southwest, for seven or eight days, during which
tine a great many ships from Newcastle came into the

ROBINSON CRUSOE

same Roads, as the common harbor where the ships
might wait for a wind from the river.
We should not have ridden here so long, however,
but should have gone up the river on the tide, but that
the wind blew too fresh, and after we hod lain four
or five days blew very hard. However, the Roads
being reckoned as good as a harbor, the anchorage
good and our ground-tackle very strong, our men were
unconcerned, and not in the least apprehensive of
danger, but spent the time in rest and mirth, after the
manner of the sea. The eighth day in the morning
the wind increased, and we had all hands at work to
strike our topmasts, and make everything snug and
close, that the ship might ride as easy as possible.
By noon the sea went very high indeed, and our ship
rode forecastle in, shipped several seas, and we thought
once or twice our anchor had come home; upon which
our master ordered out the sheet-anchor, so that we
rode with two anchors ahead, and the cables veered
out to the end.
By this time it blew a terrible storm indeed, and now
I began to see terror and amazement in the faces even of
the seamen themselves. The master, though vigilant
in the business of preserving the ship, yet as he went
in and out of his cabin by me, I could hear him say
softly to himself several times, "Lord, be merciful to us;
we shall be all lost, we shall be all undone," and the
like. During these first hurries, I was stupid, lying
still in my cabin, which was in the steerage, and cannot

ROBINSON CRUSOE

describe my temper. I could ill reassume the first
penitence which I had so apparently trampled upon,
and hardened myself against. I thought the bitter-
ness of death had been past, and that this would be
nothing like the first. But when the master himself
came by me, as I said just now, and said we should be
all lost, I was dreadfully frightened. I got up out of
my cabin and looked out, but such a dismal sight I
never saw. The sea went mountains high, and broke
upon us every three or four minutes. When I could
look about, I could see nothing but distress round us.
Two ships that rode near us, we found, had cut their
masts by the board, being deep laden, and our men
cried out that a ship which rode about a mile ahead
of us was foundered. Two more ships, being driven
from their anchors, were run out of the Roads to sea,
and that with not a mast standing. The light ships
fared the best, because they did not labor so much in
the sea; but two or three of them drove, and came close
by us, running away with only their spritsail out,be-
fore the wind.
Toward evening the mate and the boatswain begged
the master of our ship to let them cut away the fore-
mast, which he was very unwilling to do; but the boat-
swain protesting to him, that if he did not, the ship
would founder, he consented. When they had cut
away the foremast, the mainmast stood so loose and
shook the ship so much that they were obliged to cut
her away, also, and make a clear deck.

ROBINSON CRUSOE

Anyone may judge what a condition I was in at all
this, who was but a young sailor, and who had been
in such a fright before at but a little. But if I can ex-
press at this distance the thoughts I had about me at
that time, I was in tenfold more horror of mind on
account of my former convictions, and because I had
turned from them to the resolutions I had wickedly
taken at first, than I was at death itself.. These, added
to the terror of the storm, put me into such a condition
that I can by no words describe it.
We had a good ship, but she was deep laden and
wallowed in the sea, so that the seamen every now and
then cried out that she would founder. It was my ad-
vantage in one respect that I did not know what they
meant by founder, till I inquired. However, the storm
was so violent that I saw what is not often seen, the
master, the boatswain, and some others more sensible
than the rest, at their prayers, and expecting every
moment that the ship would go to the bottom. In
the middle of the night, on top of all the rest of our
distresses, one of the men that had been down on
purpose to see, cried out that we had sprung a leak;
another said there were four feet of water in the hold.
Then all hands were called to the pump. At that very
word my heart, as I thought, died within me, and I
fell backwards from the side of my bed where I sat,
into the cabin.
However, the men roused me, and told me that I,
who was able to do nothing before, was as well able to

ROBINSON CRUSOE 13
pump as another. At this I stirred up and went to the
pump and worked very heartily. While this was doing,
the master saw some light colliers, who, not able to
ride out the storm, were obliged to slip and run away
to sea. They would not come near us and the master
ordered a gun to be fired as a signal of distress.
I, who knew nothing what that meant, was so sur-
prised that I thought the ship had broken, or some
dreadful thing happened. In a word, I was so sur-
prised that I fell down in a swoon. As this was a time
when everybody had his own life to think of, nobody
minded me, or what was become of me; but another man
stepped up to the pump, and thrusting me aside with
his foot, let me lie, thinking I had been dead. It
was a great while before I came to myself.
We worked on, but the water increasing in the
hold, it was apparent that the ship would founder.
Though the storm began to abate a little, yet it was
not possible she could swim till we might run into a
port, so the master continued firing guns for help,
and a light ship who had ridden it out just ahead of us,
ventured a boat out to help us. It was with the utmost
hazard that the boat came near us, but it was im-
possible for us to get on board, or for the boat to lie
near the ship's side. At last, the men rowing very
heartily, and venturing their lives to save ours, our
men cast them a rope over the stern with the buoy to
it, and then veered it out a great length, which they,
after great labor and hazard, took hold of, and we

ROBINSON CRUSOE

hauled them close under our stern and got all into
their boat. It was to no purpose for them or us after
we were in the boat to think of reaching to their own
ship, so all agreed to let her drive, and only to pull her
in toward shore as much as we could, and our master
promised them that if the boat was staved upon shore
he would make it good to their master. So, partly row-
ing and partly driving, our boat went away to the north-
ward, sloping toward the shore almost as far as Win-
terton-Ness.
We were not much more than a quarter of an hour
out of our ship before we saw her sink, and then I under-
stood for the first time what was meant by a ship found-
ering in the sea. I must acknowledge that I had hardly
eyes to look up when the seamen told me she was
sinking; for from that moment they rather put me into
the boat than that I might be said to go in, my heart
was, as it were, dead within me, partly with fright,
partly with horror of mind, and the thoughts of what
was yet before me.
While we were in this condition, the men yet labor-
ing at the oars to bring the boat near the shore, we
could see (when our boat mounting the waves we
were able to see the shore) a great many people run-
ning along the shore to assist us when we should come
near. We made but slow way toward the shore, nor
were we able to reach it, till being past the lighthouse
at Winterton, the shore falls off to the westward
toward Cromer, and so the land broke off a little the

ROBINSON CRUSOE

violence of the wind. Here we got in, and, though not
without much difficulty, got all safe on shore, and
walked afterwards on foot to Yarmouth, where, as
unfortunate men, we were used with great humanity,
as well by the magistrates of the town, who assigned
us good quarters, as by particular merchants and
owners of ships, and had money given us sufficient
to carry us either to London or back to Hull, as we
thought fit.
But my ill fate pushed me on now with an obstinacy
that nothing could resist, and though I had several
times loud calls from my reason and my more composed
judgment to go home, yet I had no power to do it. I
know not what to call this, nor will I urge that it is a
secret overruling decree that hurries us on to be the
instruments of our own destruction, even though it
be before us, and that we rush upon it with our eyes
open. Certainly nothing but some such decreed misery
attending, and which it was impossible for me to es-
cape, c6uld have pushed me forward against the calm
reasoning and persuasions of my most retired thoughts,
and against two such visible instructions as I had met
with in my first attempt.
My comrade, who had helped to harden me before,
and who was the master's son, was now less forward
than I. The first time he spoke to me after we were
at Yarmouth, which was not till two or three days,
for we were separated in the town to several quarters-
I say, the first time he saw me, it appeared his tone was

ROBINSON CRUSOE

altered. He looked very melancholy, and, shaking his
head, asked me how I did. He told his father who I
was, and how I had come this voyage only for a trial,
in order to go farther abroad. His father turned to
me with a very grave and concerned tone.
"Young man," said he, "you ought never to go
to sea any more; you ought to take this for a plain
and visible token that you are not to be a seafaring
man."
"Why, sir," said I, "will you go to sea no more?"
"That is another case," said he. "It is my calling,
and therefore my duty; but as you made this voyage
for a trial, you see what a taste Heaven has given you
of what you are to expect if you persist; perhaps this' is
all befallen us on your account, like Jonah,* in the
ship of Tarshish. Pray," continued he, "what are you?
and on what account did you go to sea?"
I told him some of my story, at the end of which
he burst out with a strange kind of passion. "What
had I done," says he, "that such an unhappy wretch
should come into my ship? I would not set my foot in
the same ship with thee again for a thousand pounds."
However, he afterwards talked very gravely to me, and
exhorted me to go back to my father and not tempt
Providence to my ruin. He told me I might see a visible
hand of Heaven against me.
"And, young man," said he, "depend upon it if
you do not go back, wherever you go, you will meet
See Bible, Jonah, ch. 1, vs. 1-15.

ROBINSON CRUSOE

with nothing but disasters and disappointments, till
your father's words are fulfilled upon you.".
We parted soon after, for I made him little answer,
and I saw him no more. Which way he went, I know
not. As for me, having some money in my pocket, I
traveled to London by land, and there, as well as on
the road, had many struggles with myself, what course
of life I should take, and whether I should go home, or
go to sea.
As to going home, shame opposed the best motions
that offered to my thoughts, and it immediately oc-
curred to me how I should be laughed at among the
neighbors, and should be ashamed to see, not my
father and mother only, but even everybody else. I
have since often observed how incongruous and ir-
rational the common temper of mankind is, especially
of youth, to that reason which ought to guide them
in such cases, namely, that they are not ashamed to
sin, and yet are ashamed to repent; not ashamed of
the action for which they ought justly to be esteemed
fools, but are ashamed of the returning, which only
can make them esteemed wise men.

CHAPTER II.

ADVENTURES IN AFRICA
IN this state of life, however, I remained some time,
uncertain what measures to take and what course
.of life to lead. An irresistible reluctance continued
to going home, and as I stayed a while, the remembrance
of the distress I had been in wore off, till at last I quite
laid aside the thoughts of it.
That evil influence which carried me first away
from my father's house, that hurried me into the
wild notion of raising my fortune, and that impressed
those conceits so forcibly upon me, as to make me deaf
to all good advice, and to the entreaties and even the
command of my father-I say, the same influence,
whatever it was, presented the most unfortunate of all
enterprises to my view, and I went on board a vessel
bound to the coast of Africa, or, as our sailors vulgarly
call it, a voyage to Guinea.
It was my great misfortune that in all these ad-
ventures I did not ship myself as a sailor; whereby,
though I might indeed have worked a little harder
than ordinary, yet at the same time I should have
learned the duty and office of a foremast man, and in
time might have qualified myself for a mate or a lieu-
tenant, if not for a master. But, as it was always my
fate to choose for the worse, so I did here; for having

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money in my pocket, and good clothes upon my back,
I would always go on board in the habit of a gentle-
man, and so I neither had any business in the ship,
nor learned to do any.
It was my lot first of all to fall into pretty good
company in London, which does not always happen to
such loose and unguided young fellows as I then was.
I became acquainted with the master of a ship who
had been on the coast of Guinea, and who, having
had very good success there, was resolved to go again.
He took a fancy to my conversation, which was not at all
disagreeable at that time, and hearing me say that I
had a mind to see the world, he told me that if I would
go the voyage with him I should be at no expense; I
should be his messmate and his companion, and if I
could carry anything with me, I should have all the ad-
vantage of it that the trade would admit, and perhaps
I might meet with some encouragement.
I embraced the offer, and entering into a strict
friendship with this captain, who was an honest and
plain-dealing man, I went the voyage with him, and
undertook a small adventure in which, by the dis-
interested honesty of my friend the captain, I was very
successful. I carried about 401.* in such toys and trifles
as the captain directed me to buy. This 401. I had
mustered together by the assistance of some of my
relations whom I corresponded with, and who, I be-
401. = 40 pounds English money. One pound = twenty shillings,
At the standard rate of exchange a pound = $4.86.

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lieve, got my father, or at least my mother, to con-
tribute so much as that to my first adventure.
This was the only voyage which I may say was
successful in all my adventures, and which I owe to
the integrity and honesty of my friend the captain,
under whom also I got a complete knowledge of the
mathematics and the rules of navigation, learned how
to keep an account of the ship's course, take an observa-
tion, and, in short, to understand some things that
were needful to be understood by a sailor. As he took
delight to instruct me, I took delight to learn, and, in
a word, this voyage made me both a sailor and a mer-
chant, for I brought home five pounds, nine ounces of
gold dust for my adventure. This yielded me in
London at my return almost 3001., and my success
filled me with those aspiring thoughts which have
since so completed my ruin.
Yet even in this voyage I had my misfortunes, too.
I was continually sick, being thrown into a violent
fever by the excessive heat of the climate. Our principal
trading was upon the coast, from the latitude of fifteen
degrees north even to the line itself.
I was now set up for a Guinea trader. To my great
misfortune, my friend died soon after his arrival, but
I resolved to go the same voyage again. I embarked
in the same vessel with one who was the mate in the
former voyage, and had now got the command of the
ship. This was the unhappiest voyage that ever man
made, for though I did not carry quite 1001. of my new

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gained wealth, so that I had 2001. left, which I lodged
with my friend's widow, who was very just to me, yet
I fell into terrible misfortunes in this voyage.
Our ship, making her course toward the Canary
Islands, or rather between those islands and the Afri-
can shore, was surprised in the gray of the morning by
a Turkish rover of Sallee, who gave chase to us with
all the sail she could make. We crowded, also, as much
canvas as our yards would spread, or our masts carry,
to have got clear, but finding that the pirate had
gained upon us, and would certainly come up with us
in a few hours, we prepared to fight. Our ship had
twelve guns, and the rogue's eighteen. About three
in the afternoon he came up with us, and bringing to,
by mistake, just athwart our quarter, instead of athwart
our stern, as he intended, we brought eight of our guns
to bear on that side, and poured in a broadside upon
him, which made him sheer off again, after returning
our fire and pouring in also his small shot from about
200 men which he had on board. However, we had not
a man touched, all our men keeping close. He pre-
pared to attack us again, and we to defend ourselves,
but laying us on board the next time upon our other
quarter, he entered sixty men upon our decks, who
immediately fell to cutting and hacking the decks and
rigging. We plied them with small shot, half-pikes,
powder-chests, and such like, and cleared our deck
of them twice. However, to cut short this melancholy
part of our story, our ship being disabled, and three

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of our men killed and eight wounded, we were obliged
to yield, and were carried all prisoners into Sallee, a
port belonging to the Moors.
The usage I had there was not so dreadful as at
first I apprehended, nor was I carried up the country
to the emperor's court, as the rest of our men were,
but was kept by the captain of the rover as his proper
prize, and made his slave, being young and nimble,
and fit for his business. At this surprising change of
my circumstances, from a merchant to a miserable
slave, I was perfectly overwhelmed, and now I looked
back upon my father's prophetic discourse to me, that
I should be miserable and have none to relieve me.
As my new patron or master had taken me home
to his house, so I was in hopes that he would take me
with him when he went to sea again, believing that it
would at some time or other be his fate to be taken by
a Spanish or Portuguese man-of-war, and that then I
should be set at liberty. But this hope of mine was;
soon taken away, for when he went to sea he left me
on shore to look after his little garden, and do the
common drudgery of slaves about his house, and when
he came home again from his cruise, he ordered me
to lie in the cabin to look after the ship.
SHere I meditated nothing but my escape, and what
method I might take to effect it, but found no way
that had the least probability in it, for I had nobody
to communicate it to that would embark with me;
no fellow slave, no Englishman, Irishman, or Scotch-

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man there but myself. So, for two years, though I
often pleased myself with the imagination, yet I never
had the least encouraging prospect of putting it in
practice.
After about two years an odd circumstance pre-
sented itself, which put the old thought of making
some attempt f3r my liberty again in my head. My
patron lay at home longer than usual without fitting
out his ship, which, as I heard, was for want of money.
He used constantly, once or twice a week, sometimes
oftener if the weather was fair, to take the ship's
pinnace, and go out into the road fishing. He always
took me and a young Maresco* with him to row the
boat, and we made him very merry. I proved very
dexterous in catching fish, so that sometimes he
would send me with a Moor,t one of his kinsmen,
and the youth, the Maresco as they called him, to catch
a dish of fish for him.
It happened, one time, that as we went fishing in a
stark, calm morning, a fog rose so thick that, though we
were not half a league from the shore, we lost sight of it;
and rowing we knew not whither or which way, we
labored all day, and all the next night, and when the
morning came we found we had pulled off to sea in-
stead of pulling in for the shore, and that we were at
Maresco = One born on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea;
more especially applied to one born on the southern shore.
t Moor = A native of Morocco. In the Middle Ages the term was
applied to the Mohammedans who crossed over to Spain.

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least two leagues from the shore. However, we got well
in again, though with a great deal of labor and some
danger, for the wind began to blow pretty fresh in the
morning, but particularly we were all very hungry.
But our patron, warned by this disaster, resolved to
take more care of himself in the future. He resolved that
he would not go fishing any more without a compass
and some provisions; so he ordered the carpenter of
his ship, who also was an English slave, to build a
little stateroom or cabin in the middle of the long
boat, like that of a barge, with a place to stand behind
it to steer and hale home the mainsheet, and room be-
fore for a hand or two to stand and work the sails.
She sailed with what we call a shoulder-of-mutton sail;
and the boom gibed over the top of the cabin, which
lay very snug and low, and had in it room for him to
lie, with a slave or two, and a table to eat on, with some
small lockers to put in his bread, rice, and coffee.
We frequently went out with this boat fishing, and
as I was most dexterous to catch fish for him, he never
went without me. It happened one time that he had
decided to go out in this boat, either for pleasure or
for fish, with two or three Moors. He therefore sent
on board the boat over night a larger store of provisions
than ordinary, and had ordered me to get ready three
fusees* with powder and shot, which were on board
his ship, since he designed some sport of fowling as
well as fishing.
A fusee was a flintlock musket. The word is now obsolete.

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I got all things ready as he directed, and waited
the next morning with the boat washed clean, her
flag and pennants out, and everything to accommodate
his guests. By and by my patron came on board alone,
and told me that his guests had put off going, upon
some business that fell out, and ordered me with the
man and boy, as usual, to go out with the boat and
catch them some fish, because his friends were to sup
at his house. He commanded that as soon as I got
some fish I should bring it home to his house. All
this I prepared to do.
This moment my former notions of deliverance
darted into my thoughts, for now I found that I was
about to have a little ship at my command. As soon as
my master was gone, I prepared to furnish myself, not
for a fishing business, but for a voyage; though I knew
not, neither did I so much as consider, whither I should
steer. Anywhere to get out of that place was my way.
My first contrivance :Wvas, to nike a; pretense to
speak to this Moor, tbo:-t more food on b6.ad I told
him that we mus,'-,ot presume to eat of our patron's
bread. He said'-fhat that Wvat e:anbrought alge
basket of rusks 'r biscuits of their kind, and three jars
with fresh water, into the boat. I knew where my
patron's case of bottles stood, which it was evident by
the make were taken out of some English prize, and I
conveyed them into the boat while the Moor was on
shore, as if they had been there before for our master.
I conveyed also a great lump of beeswax into the boat,

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which weighed above half a hundredweight, with a
parcel of twine or thread, a hatchet, a saw, and a
hammer, all of which were of great use to us after-
wards; especially the wax to make candles. Another
trick I tried upon him which he innocently came into
also. His name was Ismael, but he was called Muly,
or Moley, so I called to him, "Moley, our patron's
guns are on board the boat; can you not get a little
powder and shot? It may be that we may kill some
alcamies [a fowl like our curlews] for ourselves, for I
know that he keeps the gunner's stores in the ship."
"Yes," says he, "I'll bring some."
Accordingly he brought a great leather pouch
which held about a pound and a half of powder, or
rather more, and another with shot, that had five or
six pounds, with some bullets, and put all into the
boat. At the same time I had found some powder of
my master's in the great cabin, with which I filled one
of the large 6'.es "*Jli'jhp .vase, which was almost
empty;: "uin"g what was ol iinto another. Thus
furnisti. with gvqrythig neegdfiei' .we sailed out of
th'e. prt to fihs' '. : fi:! oo
The men in the castle, which is at'the entrance of
the port, knew who we were, and took no notice of us.
We were not above a mile out of the port before we
hauled in our sail and set us down to fish The wind
blew from the N. N. E., which was contrary to my de-
sire, for had it blown southerly I had been sure to
have made the coast of Spain, and at least reach the

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bay of Cadiz; but my resolutions were, blow which
way it would, I would be gone from that horrid place
where I was, and leave the rest to fate.
After we had fished some time and caught nothing,
for when I had fish on my hook I would not pull them
up, that he might not see them, I said to the Moor,
"This will not do; our master will not be thus served;
we must stand farther off." He, thinking no harm,
agreed, and being in the head of the boat set the sails.
As I had the helm I ran the boat out nearly a league
farther, and then brought her to as if I would fish.
Then, giving the boy the helm, I stepped forward to
where the Moor was, and making as if I stooped for
something behind him, I took him by surprise with
my arm under his legs, and tossed him clear overboard
into the sea. He rose immediately, for he swam like
a cork, and calling to me, begged to be taken in. He
told me he would go all over the world with me. He
swam so vigorously after the boat that he would have
reached me very quickly, there being but little wind.
Thereupon I stepped into the cabin, and securing one
of the fowling pieces, I pointed it at him, and told him
that I had done him no hurt, and if he would be quiet
I would do him none.
"But," said I, "you swim well enough to reach the
shore, and the sea is calm. Make the best of your
way to shore, and I will do you no harm, but if you
come near the boat I'll shoot you through the head,
for I am resolved to have my liberty."

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So he turned himself about and swam for the shore,
and I make no doubt but he reached it with ease, for
he was an excellent swimmer.
I could have been content to have taken this Moor
with me, but there was no venturing to trust him.
When he was gone I turned to the boy, whom they
called Xury, and said to him, "Xury, if you will be
faithful to me I'll make you a great man; but if you
will not stroke your face to be true to me," [that is
swear by Mahomet and his father's beard] "I must
throw you into the sea, too." The boy smiled in my
face and spoke so innocently that I could not mis-
trust him. He swore to be faithful to me, and go all
over the world with me.
While I was in view of the Moor that was swim-
ming, I stood out directly to sea with the boat, rather
stretching to windward, that they might think me
gone toward, the Straits mouth (as indeed anyone
that had been in his wits must have been supposed to
do). Who would have supposed that we would sail on
to the southward to the truly barbarian coast, where
whole nations of Negroes were sure to surround us with
their canoes, and destroy us; where we could never
once go on shore but we should be devoured by savage
beasts, or more merciless savages of human kind?
But as soon as it grew dusk in the evening, I changed
my course, and steered directly south and by east,
bending my course a little toward the east, that I
might keep in with the shore. Having a fairly fresh

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gale of wind and a smooth, quiet sea, I made such sail
that I believe by the next day at three o'clock in the
afternoon, when I first made the land, I could not have
been less than 150 miles south of Sallee. I was quite
beyond the dominions of the emperor of Morocco, or
indeed of any other king. thereabouts, for we saw
no people.
Yet such was the fright I had taken at the Moors,
and the dreadful apprehensions I had of falling into
their hands, that I would not stop, or go on shore, or
come to an anchor. The wind continued fair till I
had sailed in that manner five days. When it shifted
to the southward, I concluded that if any of our vessels
were in chase of me, they also would now give up, so
I ventured to make the coast. I came to an anchor in
the mouth of a little river, I knew not what, or where;
neither what latitude, what country, what nation, or
what river. I neither saw, nor desired to see, any
people. The principal thing I wanted was fresh water.
We came into this creek in the evening, resolving to
swim to shore as soon as it was dark, and explore the
country; but as soon as it was quite dark, we heard
such dreadful noises of the barking, roaring, and howl-
ing of wild creatures of we knew not what kinds, that
the poor boy was ready to die with fear, and begged
me not to go on shore till day.
"Oh, very well," said I, "then I won't, but it may
be that we may see men by day, who will be as bad to
us as those lions."

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"Then we give them the shoot gun," says Xury,
laughing; "make them run way."
Such English Xury spoke by conversing among
us slaves. However I was glad to see the boy so cheer-
ful, and I gave him a dram (out of our patron's case
of bottles) to cheer him up. After all, Xury's advice
was good, and I took it. We dropped our little anchor
and lay still all night. I say "lay still," for we slept
none, for in two or three hours we saw vast, great crea-
tures (we knew not what to call them) of many sorts,
come down to the seashore and run into the water,
wallowing and washing themselves for the pleasure of
cooling themselves. They made such hideous howlings
and yelling that I never indeed heard the like.
Xury was dreadfully frightened, and .indeed so
was I; but we were both more frightened when we
heard one of these mighty creatures come swimming
toward our boat. We could not see him, but we might
hear him by his blowing to be a monstrous huge and
furious beast. Xury said it was a lion, and it might
have been so for aught I know. Poor Xury cried to
me to weigh the anchor and row away.
"No," said I, "Xury, we can slip our cable with a
buoy to it and go off to sea; they cannot follow us far."
I had no sooner said so but I perceived the creature
(whatever it was) within two oars' length which sur-
prised me. However, I immediately stepped to the cabin
door, and taking up my gun fired at him, upon which
he turned about and swam toward the shore again.

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It is impossible to describe the horrible noises and
hideous cries and howlings that were raised, as well
upon the edge of the shore, as higher within the country,
upon the noise or report of the gun; a thing I have some
reason to believe those creatures had never heard be-
fore. This convinced me that there was no going on
shore for us in the night upon that coast.
How to venture on shore when day came was an-
other question, too, for to have fallen into the hands
of any of the savages, had been as bad as to have fallen
prey to lions and tigers; at least we were equally appre-
hensive of the danger of it. Be that as it would, we
were obliged to go on shore somewhere or other for
water, for we had not a pint left in the boat. When or
where to get it was the point. Xury said that if I
would let him go on shore with one of the jars he would
see if there was any water, and bring some to me. I
asked him why he would go; why I should not go,
and he stay in the boat.
The boy answered with so much affection that I
loved him ever after. Said he, "If wild mans come, they
eat me, you go way."
"Well, Xury,'.' said I, "we will both go, and if the
wild mans come, we will kill them; they shall eat
neither of us."
I gave Xury a piece of rusk-bread to eat, and a
dram out of our patron's case of bottles which I men-
tioned before. Then we hauled the boat in as near the
shore as we thought was proper, and waded to shore,

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carrying nothing but our guns, and two jars for
water.
I did not care to go out of sight of the boat, fearing
the coming of canoes with savages down the river; but
the boy, seeing a low place about a mile up the country,
rambled to it. By and by I saw him come running
toward me. I thought that he was pursued by some
savage, or frightened by some wild beast, and I ran for-
ward toward him to help him, but when I came nearer
to him, I saw something hanging over his shoulders. It
was a creature that he had shot, like a hare, but
different in color, and with longer legs. We were very
glad of it, and it was very godd meat. However, the
great joy that poor Xury came with was to tell me
that he had found good water, and had seen no wild men.
But we found afterwards that we need not take
such pains for water, for a little higher up the creek
where we were, we found the water fresh when the tide
was out, which flowed but a little way up. We filled
our jars and feasted oh the hare we had killed, and pre-
pared to go on our way, having seen no footsteps of
any human creature in that part of the country.
As I had been one voyage to this coast before, I
knew very well that the islands of the Canaries, and the
Cape Verde Islands, also, lay not far off from the
coast. But as I had no instruments to take an obser-
vation to know what latitude we were in, and did not
exactly know, or at least remember, what latitude
they were in, I knew not where to look for them, or

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when to stand off to sea toward them. Otherwise I
might now easily have found some of these islands.
But my hope was that if I stood along this coast till
I came to that part where the English traded, I should
find some of their vessels upon their usual design of
trade, that would relieve and take us in.
By the best of my calculation, that place where I
now was must be that country which lies between the
emperor of Morocco's dominions and the Negroes, and
is waste and uninhabited except by wild beasts.
Once or twice in the daytime I thought I saw the
Peak of Teneriffe, which is the high top of the moun-
tain Teneriffe in the Canaries. I had a great mind to
venture out in hopes of reaching it, but having tried
twice, I was forced in again by contrary winds, the sea
also going too high for my little vessel, so I resolved
to pursue my first design and keep along the shore.
Several times I was obliged to land for fresh water
after we had left this place. Once in particular, early
in the morning, we came to anchor under a little point
of land which was pretty high, and the tide beginning
to flow, we lay still to go farther in. Xury, whose
eyes were more about him than it seems mine were,
called softly to me, and told me that we had best go
farther off the shore. "For," said he, "look, yonder
lies a dreadful monster on the side of that. hillock fast
asleep."
I looked where he pointed, and saw a great lion
quietly taking his rest.

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Bidding Xury lie still in the boat, I took our biggest
gun, which was almost musket-bore, and loaded it
with a good charge of powder, and with two slugs, and
laid it down. Then I loaded another gun with two
bullets; and the third, for we had three pieces, I loaded
with five smaller bullets. I took the best aim I could
with the first piece, to have shot the lion in the head,
but he lay so with his leg raised a little above his nose,
that the slugs hit his leg about the knee, and broke
the bone. He started up growling at first, but finding
his leg broken fell down again, and then got up upon
three legs, and gave the most hideous roar that ever
I heard. I was a little surprised that I had not hit
him on the head. However, I took up the second piece
immediately, and though he began to move off, fired
again, and shot him in the head, and had the pleasure
to see him drop, and make but little noise, lie struggling
for life. Then Xury took heart, and would have me
let him go on shore.
"Well, go," said I.
So the boy jumped into the water, and taking a
little gun in one hand, swam to the shore with the other
hand, and coming close to the creature, put the muzzle
of the piece to his ear, and shot him in the head again,
which dispatched him quite.
This was game indeed to us, but it was not food.
I was very sorry to lose three charges of powder and
shot upon a creature that was good for nothing to us.
However, Xury said he would have some of him, so

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he came on board, and asked me to give him the
hatchet.
"For what, Xury?" said I.
"Me cut off his head," said he.
However, Xury could not cut off his head, but he
cut off a foot, and brought it with him, and it was a
monstrous great one.
I bethought myself, however, that perhaps the
skin of him might one way or other be of some value
to us, and I resolved to take off his skin, if I could. So
Xury and I went to work with him; but Xury was
much the better workman at it, for I knew very ill
how to do it. Indeed, it took us both the whole day,
but at last we got the hide off him, and spread it on
the top of our cabin, where the sun effectually dried
it in two days. Afterwards it served me to lie upon.
After this stop, we made on to the southward con-
tinually for ten or twelve days, living very sparingly
on our provisions, which began to abate very much,
and going no oftener into the shore than we were
obliged to for fresh water. My design in this was to
make the river Gambia or Senegal, that is to say any-
where about Cape Verde, where I was in hopes to
meet with some European ship. If I did not, I knew
not what course I had to take but to seek for the Is-
lands, or perish there among the Negroes. I knew that
all the ships from Europe, which sailed either to the
coast of Guinea or to Brazil or to the East Indies,
made this Cape, or those Islands. In a word, I put

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the whole of my fortune upon this single point, either
that I must meet with some ship or must perish.
When I had pursued this resolution about ten days
longer, as I have said, I began to see that the land was
inhabited. In two or three places, as we sailed by, we
saw people stand upon the shore to look at us; we could
also perceive that they were quite black, and stark
naked. I was once inclined to have gone on shore to
them; but Xury was my better counsellor, and said
to me, "No go, no go." However, I hauled in nearer the
shore that I might talk to them, and I found that they
ran along the shore by me a good way. I observed
that only one had a weapon, a long, slender stick, which
Xury said was a lance. He told me that the savages
could throw these lances a great way with good aim.
So I kept at a distance, but talked with them by signs
as well as I could, and particularly made signs for
something to eat. They beckoned to me to stop my
boat, and they would bring me some meat. Upon this
I lowered the top of my sail and lay by, and two of
them ran up into the country, and in less than half
an hour came back, bringing with them two pieces
of dry flesh and some grain, which is the produce of their
country. We neither knew what the one nor the other
was, but we were willing to accept it. How to come at
it was our next dispute, for I was not for venturing
on shore to them, and they were as much afraid of us.
However, they took a safe way for as all, for they
brought it to the shore and laid it down, and went and

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stood a great way off till we had brought it on board.
Then they came close to us again.
We made signs of thanks to them, for we had noth-
ing to make them amends, but an opportunity of-
fered that' very instant to oblige them wonderfully.
While we were lying by the shore, there came two
mighty creatures, one pursuing the other (as we took
it) with great fury, from the mountains toward the sea.
We found the people terribly frightened, especially the
women. The man that had the lance or dart did not
fly from them, but the rest did. However, the two
creatures did not seem to offer to fall upon any of the
Negroes, but plunged themselves into the sea, and
swam about as if they had come for their diversion.
At last one of them began to come nearer our boat
than at first I expected, but I lay ready for him, for I
had loaded my gun with all possible expedition, and.
bade Xury load both the others. As soon as he came
fairly within my reach, I fired, and shot him directly in
the head. Immediately he sank down into the water,
but rose instantly, and plunged up and down as if
he was struggling for life, and so indeed he was. He
immediately made to the shore, but between the wound
which was his mortal hurt, and the strangling of the
water, he died just before he reached the shore.
It is impossible to express the astonishment of
these poor Negroes at the noise and the fire of my gun.
But when they saw that the creature was dead, and
sunk in the water, and that I made signs to them to
4

ROBINSON CRUSOE

come to the shore, they took heart and came to the
shore, and began to search for the creature. I found
him by his blood staining the water. By the help of
a rope, which I slung round him, and gave the Negroes
to haul, they dragged him on shore, and found that
he was a most curious leopard, spotted and fine to
an admirable degree. The Negroes held up their hands
with admiration to think what it was that I had killed
him with.
The other creature, frightened with the flash of fire
and the noise of the gun, swam to shore, and ran up
directly to the mountains from whence they had come,
nor could I at that distance know what he was. I
quickly found that the Negroes were for eating the flesh
of this creature, so I was willing to have them take it as
a favor from me. They offered me some of the flesh,
which I declined, making as if I would give it to them,
but I made signs for the skin, which they gave me very
freely. They brought me, too, a great deal more of
their provision, which, though I did not understand,
yet I accepted. Then I made signs to them for some
water, and held out one of my jars to them, turning it
bottom upward, to show that it was empty, and that
I wanted to have it filled. They called immediately
to some of their friends, and two women came and
brought a great vessel made of earth and burnt, as
I suppose, in the sun. This they sat down for me, as
before, and I sent Xury on shore with my jars, and
filled them all three.

ROBINSON CRUSOE

I was now furnished with roots and grain, such as it
was, and water; and, leaving my friendly Negroes, I
made forward for about eleven days more, without
offering to go near the shore, till I saw the land run
out a great length into the-sea, at about the distance
of four or five leagues before me. The sea being very
calm, I kept a. large offing to make this point. At
length, doubling the point at about two leagues from
the land, I saw plainly land on the other side to sea-
ward. Then I concluded, as it was most certain indeed,
that this was Cape Verde, and those the islands,
called from thence Cape Verde Islands. However,
they were at a great distance, and I could not tell what
I had best do, for if I should be taken with a fresh of
wind I might reach neither one nor the other.
Not knowing what to do in this dilemma, I went
into the cabin and sat down to think. Xury had the
helm, and suddenly he cried out, "Master, master, a
ship with a sail!" I jumped out of the cabin, and im-
mediately saw the ship, and saw that it was a Portu-
guese ship, and, as I thought, was bound to the coast
of Guinea for Negroes. But when I observed the
course she steered, I was soon convinced that they were
bound some other way, and did not design to come any
nearer to the shore. Thereupon I stretched out to sea as
much as I could, resolving to speak with them if possible.
With all the sail I could make, I found I should not
be able to come in their way, but they would be gone
by before I could make any signal to them. But after

ROBINSON CRUSOE

I had crowded to the utmost, and began to despair,
they, it seemed, saw me by the help of their perspective-
glasses.* Tiey saw that it was some European boat,
which, as they supposed, must belong to some ship
that was lost; so they shortened sail to let me come up.
I was encouraged with this, and as I had my patron's
flag on board, I made a waft of it to them for a signal
of distress, and fired a gun, both of which they saw,
for they told me they saw the smoke, though they did
not hear the gun. Upon these signals they very kindly
brought to, and lay by for me, and in about three
hours' time I came up with them.
They asked me what I was, in Portuguese, in Span-
ish, and in French, but I understood none of them.
At last a Scottish sailor, who was on board, called to
me, and I answered him, and told him that I was an
Englishman, and that I had made my escape out of
slavery from the Moors at Sallee. Then they bade me
come on board, and very kindly took me in, and all
my goods.
It was inexpressible joy to me, more than anyone
would believe, that I was thus delivered, as I esteemed
it, from such a miserable and almost hopeless con-
dition as I was in. I immediately offered all I had to
the captain of the ship, as a return for my deliverance;
but he generously told me he would take nothing from
me. He assured me that all that I had should be de-
livered safe to me when I came to the Brazils.
Perspective-glasses = spyglasses = telescopes.

ROBINSON CRUSOE

"For," said he, "I have saved your life on no other
terms than I would be glad to be saved myself. It
may one time or other be my lot to be taken up in the
same condition. Besides," said he, "when I carry you
to the Brazils, so great a way from your own country,
if I should take away from you what you have, you
will be starved there, and then I only take away that
life I have given. No, no, Seignor, Mr. Englishman, I
will carry you thither in charity, and those things will
help you to buy your subsistence there, and your pass
sage home again."
As he was charitable in his proposal, so he was just
in the performance to a tittle, for he ordered the sea-
men that none should offer to touch anything I had.
Then he took everything into his own possession, and
gave me back an exact inventory of them, that I might
have them. He even included my earthen jars.
As to my boat, it was a very good one, and that he
saw, and told me he would buy it of me for the ship's
use, and asked me what I would have for it. I told
him that he had been so generous to me in everything
that I could not offer to make any price of the boat,
but left it entirely to him. Upon this he told me that
he would give me a note of his hand to pay me eighty
pieces of eight* for it at Brazil, and, when it came there,
if anyone offered to give more, he would make it up.
He offered me also sixty pieces of eight more for my
boy Xury, which I was loath to take, not that I was
The piece of eight was the Spanish dollar.

42 ROBINSON CRUSOE

not willing to let the captain have him, but I was very
loath to sell the poor boy's liberty, since he had assisted
me so faithfully in procuring my own. However, when
I let the captain know my reason, he owned it to be
just, and offered me this compromise that he would
promise to set the boy free in ten years, if he turned
Christian. Upon this, when Xury said he was willing
to go to him, I let the captain have him.

CHAPTER III
LIFE AND TRAVEL IN SOUTH AMERICA
WE had a very good voyage to the Brazils, and
arrived in All-Saints Bay in about twenty-two
days. And now I was once more delivered
from the most miserable of all conditions of life, and
what to do next with myself I was now to consider.
The generous treatment the captain gave me I can
never enough remember. He would take nothing of
me for my passage, gave me twenty ducats* for the leop-
ard's skin, and forty for the lion's skin, which I had in
my boat, and caused everything I had in the ship to
be punctually delivered me; and what I was willing to
sell he bought, such as the case of bottles, two of my
guns, and a piece of the lump of beeswax, for I had
made candles of the rest. In a word, I made about
two hundred and twenty pieces of eight of all my cargo,
and with this stock I went on shore in the Brazils.
I had not been long here before I was recommended
to the house of a good honest man like myself, who had
an ingenio, as they call it, that is, a plantation and a
sugar house. I lived with him some time, and ac-
quainted myself by that means with the manner of
their planting and making of sugar. Seeing how well
*A ducat was formerly a gold or silver European coin varying in
value from about 83 cents to $2.25.
43

ROBINSON CRUSOE

the planters lived, and how they grew rich quickly, I
resolved, if I could get license to settle there, that I
would turn planter among them. I decided in the
meantime to find some way to have my money, which
I had left in London, remitted to me. To this purpose,
getting a kind of letter of naturalization, I purchased
as much land that was uncured as my money would
reach, and formed a plan for my plantation and settle-
ment, and such a one as might be suitable to the stock
which I planned to receive from England.
I had a neighbor, a Portuguese of Lisbon, born of
English parents, whose name was Wells. He was in
much such circumstances as I was. I call him neighbor,
because his plantation lay next to mine and we went
on very sociably together. My stock was low, as his
was, and we rather planted for food than anything
else, for about two years. However, we began to in-
crease, and our land began to come into order, so that
the third year we planted some tobacco, and made
each of us a large piece of ground ready for planting
canes in the year to come; but we both'wanted help.
I had no remedy but to go on; I had fallen into an
employment quite remote to my genius and directly
contrary to my desires. I regretted that I had left
my father's house, and broken through all his good
advice. I said to myself that I might as well have
stayed at home in England among my friends. I
ought never to have come these five thousand miles
to be among strangers.

ROBINSON CRUSOE

In this manner I used to look upon my condition
with the utmost regret. I had nobody to converse
with, but now and then this neighbor; no work to be
done, but by the labor of my hands; and I used to say
that I lived just like a man cast away upon some des-
olate island, that had nobody there but himself. But
how just has it been, and how should all men reflect,
that, when they compare their present conditions with
others that are worse, Heaven may oblige them to make
the exchange, and teach them to be convinced of their
former felicity, by their experience. I say, how just has
it been that the truly solitary life I reflected on in an
island of mere desolation should be my lot, who had
so often unjustly compared it with the life which I
then led, in which, had I continued, I had in all prob-
ability been exceeding prosperous and rich.
I was in some degree settled in my measures for
carrying on the plantation before my kind friend, the
captain of the ship that took me up at sea, went back;
for the ship remained there, providing his loading and
preparing for his voyage, nearly three months. When I
told him what little stock I had left behind me in Lon-
don, he gave me this friendly and sincere advice.
"Siegnor Inglese," says he (for so he always called
me), "if you will give me letters, and an order made
out to me, with directions to the person who has your
money in London, to send your effects to Lisbon, to
such persons as I shall direct, and in such goods as are
proper for this country, I will bring you the produce

ROBINSON CRUSOE

of them, God willing, at my return. However, since
human affairs are all subject to changes and disasters,
I would have you give orders for but one hundred
pounds sterling, which you say is half your stock, and
let the hazard be run for the first. Then, if it comes
safe, you may order the rest the same way. If it mis-
carries, you may have the other half to have recourse
to it for your supply."
This was such wholesome advice, and looked so
friendly, that I could not but be convinced that it was
the best course that I could take; so I accordingly
prepared letters to the gentlewoman with whom I had
left my money, and gave an order to the Portuguese
captain, as he desired.
I wrote the English captain's widow a full account
of all my adventures, my slavery, my escape, and how I
had met with the Portuguese captain at sea, the hu-
manity of his behavior, and what condition I was now
in, with all other necessary directions for my supply.
When this honest captain came to Lisbon, he found
means, by some of the English merchants there, to
send over, not the order only, but a full account of my
story, to a merchant at London, who repeated it to
my friend. Thereupon, she not only delivered the
money, but out of her own pocket sent the Portugal
captain a very handsome present for his humanity
and charity to me.
The merchant in London spent this hundred pounds
for English goods, such as the captain had written for,

ROBINSON CRUSOE

and sent them directly to him at Lisbon. He brought
them all safe to me to the Brazils. Among them,
without my directions (for I was too young in my
business to think of them), he had taken care to have
all sorts of tools, iron work, and utensils necessary for
my plantation, and which were of great use to me.
When this cargo arrived I thought my fortune
made, for I was surprised and delighted at it. My good
steward the captain had taken the five pounds which
my friend had sent him for a present for himself, to
purchase and bring me over a servant under bond for
six years' service. He would not accept any considera-
tion, except a little tobacco of my own produce, which
I insisted that he accept.
Neither was this all. My goods being all English
manufactures, such as cloth, stuffs, baize, and things
particularly' valuable and desirable in the country, I
found means to sell them to a very great advantage, so
that I may say I had more than four times the value
of my first cargo, and was now infinitely beyond my
poor neighbor in the advancement of my plantation.
The first thing I did was to buy a Negro slave and
another European servant besides the one which the
captain had brought me from Lisbon.
But as abused prosperity is oftentimes made the
very means of our greatest adversity, so it was with me.
I went on the next year with great success in my plan-
tation. I raised fifty great rolls of tobacco on my own
ground, more than I had disposed of for necessaries

ROBINSON CRUSOE

among my neighbors, and these fifty rolls, each above
an hundredweight, were well cured and laid by against
the return of the fleet from Lisbon. And now, as I
increased in business and in wealth, my head began to
be full of projects and undertakings beyond my reach,
such as are indeed often the ruin of the best heads in
business.
As I had persisted in breaking away from my par-
ents, so I could not be content now, but I must go and
leave the happy view I had of being a rich and thriving
man in my new plantation, only to pursue a rash and
immoderate desire of rising faster than the nature of
the thing admitted. Thus I cast myself down again
into the deepest gulf of human misery that ever man
fell into, or perhaps that could be consistent with life
and a state of health in the world.
Let me come then by the proper degrees to the par-
ticulars of this part of my story. As you may suppose,
since I had now lived almost four years in the Brazils,
and had begun to thrive and prosper very well upon
my plantation, I had not only learned the language,
but had contracted acquaintance and friendship among
my fellow planters, as well as among the merchants at
St. Salvadore, which was our port. In my discourses
among them I had frequently given them an account
of my two voyages to the coast of Guinea, the manner
of trading with the Negroes there, and how easy it was
to purchase upon the coast, for trifles, such as beads,
toys, knives, scissors, hatchets, bits of glass, and the

ROBINSON CRUSOE

like, not only gold dust, Guinea grains, elephants'
teeth, but Negroes for the service of the Brazils, in great
numbers.
They listened always very attentively to my dis-
courses on this subject, but especially to that part
which related to buying Negroes.
It happened one day that I was with some mer-
chants and planters of my acquaintance, and as usual I
talked of those things very earnestly. The next morn-
ing three of them came to me and told me that they had
been thinking very much about what I had told them
the night before. They came to make a secret proposal
to me, and, after enjoining secrecy, they told me that
they had a mind to fit out a ship to go to Guinea.
They all had plantations as well as I, and were in need
of servants. They knew that this was a trade that
could not be carried on indefinitely, because they could
not publicly sell the Negroes when they came home, so
they desired to make but one voyage, to bring the Ne-
groes on shore privately, and divide them among their
own plantations. In a word, the question was whether
I would go as their supercargo in the ship, to manage
the trading part upon the coast of Guinea. They
offered me an equal share of the Negroes, without my
providing any part of the stock.
This would have been a fair proposal, it must be
confessed, had it been made to anyone that had not
had a settlement and plantation of his own to look
after, which was in a fair way of becoming very con-

ROBINSON CRUSOE

siderable, and with a good stock upon it. But I was
thus entered and established, and had nothing to do
but go on as I had begun, and by sending for the other
hundred pounds from England, in three or four years
I could scarcely have failed being worth three or four
thousand pounds sterling, and that increasing, too.
For me to think of such a voyage as these men proposed
was the most preposterous thing that ever man in such
circumstances could be guilty of.
However, I told them that I would go with all my
heart, if they would undertake to look after my plan-
tation in my absence, and would dispose of it to .such
as I should direct if my plans miscarried. This they all
agreed to do, and entered into writings or covenants
to do so. I made a formal will, disposing of my plan-
tation and effects, in case of my death, making the
captain of the ship that saved my life, as before, my only
heir. However, I obliged him to dispose of my effects as
I had directed in my will, one half of the produce being
to himself, and the other to be shipped to England.
In short, I took all possible caution to preserve my
effects and keep up my plantation. Had I used half as
much prudence in looking into my own interest, and
making a judgment of what I ought to have done
and ought not to have done, I had certainly never
gone away from so prosperous an undertaking, leav-
ing what was in all probability a thriving circumstance,
to go upon a voyage to sea, attended with all its com-
mon hazards.

ROBINSON CRUSOE

But I was hurried on, and obeyed blindly the dic-
tates of my fancy rather than my reason. Accordingly,
when the ship was fitted out, and the cargo furnished,
and all things done as by agreement by my partners
in the voyage, I went on board in an evil hour, the 1st
of September-just eight years from the day when I
had left my father and mother and had sailed from Hull.
Our ship was about 120 tons burden, carried 6
guns and 14 men, besides the master, his boy, and
myself. We had on board no large cargo of goods, ex-
cept such toys as were fit for our trade with the Negroes,
such as beads, bits of glass, shells, and odd trifles, es-
pecially little looking-glasses, knives, scissors, hatchets,
and the like.
The same day I went on board we set sail, standing
away to the northward upon our own coast, with de-
sign to stretch over for the African coast when we came
about ten or twelve degrees of northern latitude, which
it seems was the manner of the course in those days.
We had very good weather, only excessively hot, all the
way upon our own coast till we came to height of Cape
St. Augustino; from there, keeping farther off at sea,
we lost sight of land, and steered as if we were bound
for the isle Fernand de Noronha, holding our course
N. E. by N. and leaving those isles on the east. In
this course we passed the line in about twelve days'
time, and were by our last observation in seven de-
grees twenty-two minutes northern latitude, when a
violent tornado or hurricane took us quite out of our

ROBINSON CRUSOE

knowledge. It began from the southeast, came about
to the northwest, and then settled into the northeast,
whence it blew in such a terrible manner, that for twelve
days together we could do nothing but drive, and
scudding away before it, let it carry us wherever fate
and the fury of the winds directed.
In this distress, besides the terror of the storm, one
of our men died. of fever, and one man and the boy were
washed overboard. About the twelfth day, when the
weather abated a little, the master made an observa-
tion as well as he could, and found that he was in about
eleven degrees north latitude, but that he was twenty-
two degrees of longitude difference west from Cape St.
Augustino. Thus he found that he was off the north
coast of Brazil, beyond the river Amazones,* toward
that of the river Oronoque,* commonly called the
Great River.
I studied the charts with him, and we concluded
that there was no inhabited country where we could
land, till we came within the circle of the Caribbee
Islands. Therefore we resolved to stand away for
Barbadoes, which, by keeping off at sea to avoid the
current of the bay or Gulf of Mexico, we could easily
reach, as we hoped, in about fifteen days' sail. On the
other hand, we could not possibly make our voyage
to the coast of Africa without some assistance, both to
our ship and to ourselves.
With this design we changed our course, and steered
The Amazones is the Amazon, and the Oronoque the Orinoco.

ROBINSON CRUSOE

away N. W. by W. in order to reach some of our English
islands, where I hoped for relief. However, our voyage
was otherwise determined. When we were in the lati-
tude of twelve degrees eighteen minutes, a second storm
came upon us, which carried us westward with the
same force and drove us so out of the way of civiliza-
tion, that had all our lives been saved, as to the sea,
we were in danger of being devoured by savages.
While we were in this distress with the wind still
blowing very hard, one of our men early in the morning
cried out, "Land!" We had no sooner run out of the
cabin to look out, in the hope of seeing where in the
world we were, when the ship struck upon sand, and
in a moment, the sea broke over her in such a manner
that we expected to perish immediately. We were
driven at once into our close quarters for shelter from
the very foam and spray of the sea.
It is not easy for anyone who has not been in the
same condition to conceive the consternation of men
in such circumstances. We knew nothing where we
were, or upon what land it was we were driven, whether
an island or the main, whether inhabited or not in-
habited. As the rage of the wind was still great, though
rather less than at first, we could not so much as hope
to have the ship hold many minutes without breaking
in pieces, unless the winds, by a kind of miracle, should
turn immediately about. In a word, we sat looking
one upon another, and expecting death every moment.
Every man acted accordingly as though he were pre-
5

ROBINSON CRUSOE

paring for another world, for there was little or nothing
more for us to do in this. Our present comfort, and all
the comfort we had, was that, contrary to our expecta-
tion, the ship did not break yet, and the master said
the wind began to abate.
Now, though we found that the wind did a little
abate; yet the ship was sticking too fast upon the sand
for us to expect to get her off, and we were in a dreadful
condition indeed. We had nothing to do but to think
of saving our lives as well as we could. We had a boat
at our stern just before the storm, but she had first
staved by dashing against the ship's rudder, and in
the next place she had broken away, and either sunk
or was driven off to sea, so that there was no hope from
her. We had another boat on board, but how to get
her off into the sea was a doubtful thing. However,
there was no time to debate, for we fancied the ship
would break in pieces every minute, and some told us
she was actually beginning to break already.
In this distress, the mate of our vessel lay hold of
the boat, and with the help of the rest of the men, got
her slung over the ship's side. We all, eleven in number,
got into her, let go, and committed ourselves to God's
mercy and the wild sea.
And now our case was very dismal indeed, for we
all saw plainly that the sea went so high that the boat
could not live, and that we should be inevitably drowned.
We had no sail, nor, if we had, could we have done any-
thing with it, so we worked at the oar toward the land,

ROBINSON CRUSOE

though with heavy hearts, like men going to execution.
We all knew that when the boat came nearer the shore
she would be dashed in a thousand pieces by the breach
of the sea. However, we committed our souls to God
in the most earnest manner, and the wind driving us
toward the shore, we hastened our destruction with our
own hands, pulling as well as we could toward land.
What the shore was, whether rock or sand, whether
steep or shoal, we knew not. The only hope that
could rationally give us the least shadow of expecta-
tion was that we might happen into some bay or gulf,
or the mouth of some river, where by great chance we
could run our boat in, or get under the lee of the land,
and perhaps make smooth water. But nothing of this
kind appeared, and as we made nearer and nearer the
shore, the land looked more frightful than the sea.
After we had rowed, or rather driven, about a
league and a half, as we reckoned it, a raging wave,
mountain-like, came rolling astern of us. It took us
with such a fury that it upset the boat at once, and
separated us, as well from the boat as from one an-
other.
Nothing can describe the confusion of thought
which I felt when I sank into the water. Although I
swam very well, I could not deliver myself from the
water so as to draw breath, till that wave, having driven.
me, or rather carried me, a vast way on toward the
shore, spent itself, and went back, leaving me upon the
land almost dry, but half dead with the water I took in.

ROBINSON CRUSOE

I had so much presence of mind, as well as breath left,
that, seeing myself nearer the mainland than I ex-
pected, I got upon my feet, and endeavored to make
on toward it as fast as I could, before another wave
should return and take me up again. But I soon
found that it was impossible to avoid it. I saw the sea
come after me as high as a great hill, and as furious as
an enemy which I had no means or strength to con-
tend with. My business was to hold my breath, and
raise myself upon the water, if I could, and pilot my-
self toward safety, if possible. My greatest concern
now was that the wave that would carry me a great
way toward the shore when it came on, might not
carry me back again with it when it gave back toward
the sea.
The wave that came upon me again buried me at
once twenty or thirty feet deep in its own body, and
I could feel myself carried with a mighty force and swift-
ness toward the shore a very great way. I held my
breath, and assisted myself to swim forward with all
mymight. I was ready to burst with holding my breath,
when I felt myself rising up, and to my immediate re-
lief, I found my head and hands shoot out above the
surface of the water. Though it was not two seconds
of time that I could keep myself so, yet it relieved .me
greatly, gave me breath and new courage. I was
covered again with water a good while, but not so long
but I held it out. When I found that the water had
spent itself and was beginning to return, I struck

ROBINSON CRUSOE

forward against the return of the waves, and felt
ground again with my feet. I stood still a few moments
to recover breath, and till the water went from me, and
then took to my heels and ran with what strength I
had farther up the shore. But neither would this de-
liver me from the fury of the sea, which came pouring
in after me again, and twice more I was lifted up by
the waves and carried forward as before, the shore be-
ing very flat.
The last time was almost fatal to me, for when the
sea had hurried me along as before, it dashed me against
a piece of rock with such force that it left'me senseless,
and helpless to save myself. I struck my side and breast,
so that the breath was beaten out of my body, and had
it not returned again immediately, I must have been
strangled in the water. However, I recovered a little
before the return of the waves, and since the waves
were not so high as at first, being near land, I held fast
to the rock till the wave abated. Then I managed an-
other run, which brought me so near the shore that the
next wave, though it went over me, did not carry me
away. The next run I took I got to the mainland,
where, to my great comfort, I clambered up the clefts
of the shore, and sat down upon the grass, free from
danger, and quite out of the reach of the water.

CHAPTER IV

SALVAGE FROM THE WRECK
I WAS now landed and safe on shore, and began to
look up and thank God that my life was saved,
when some minutes before there had been scarcely
any room to hope. I believe it is impossible to ex-
press in full what the ecstasies and transports of the
soul are, when it is so saved, as I may say, out of the
very grave. I walked about on the shore, lifting up
my hands, and my whole being, wrapped up in
the contemplation of my deliverance, reflecting upon
all my comrades that were drowned, for I never
saw them afterwards, or any sign of them, except
three of their hats, one cap, and two shoes that were
not fellows.
I cast my eyes to the stranded vessel, when the breach
and froth of the sea being so big, I could hardly see it,
it lay so far off, and wondered how it was possible that
I had reached shore!
After I had solaced my mind with the comfortable
part of my condition, I began to look around me, to
see what kind of place I was in, and what was next to
be done. I soon found that I had had a dreadful de-
liverance. For I was wet, and had no clothes to change
to, nor anything either to eat or drink to comfort me.
Moreover, I saw no prospect before me but that of
58

ROBINSON CRUSOE

perishing with hunger, or of being devoured by wild
beasts. I was particularly disturbed because I had no
weapon either to hunt and kill any creature for my sus-
tenance, or to defend myself against any other crea-
ture that might desire to kill me for his. In a word, I
had nothing about me but a knife, a tobacco pipe, and
a little tobacco in a box. This threw me into such
terrible agonies of mind that for a while I ran about
like a madman. When night came upon me, I began
with a heavy heart to consider what would be my
lot if there were any ravenous beasts in that country,
since at night they always come abroad for their prey.
The only thing that I could think of to do was to
climb up into a thick, bushy tree like a fir, although
it was thorny, which grew near me. I resolved to sit
there all night, and consider the next day what 4eath
I should die, for as yet I saw no prospect of life. I
walked about a furlong from the shore, to see if I
could find any fresh water to drink, which I did, to my
great joy. When I had drunk, and put a little tobacco
in my mouth to prevent hunger, I went to the tree, and
climbing up into it tried to place myself so as that if
I should sleep I might not fall. When I had cut a
short stick for my defense, I settled myself and, since
I was extremely tired, fell fast asleep, and slept com-
fortably as, I believe, few could have done in my
condition.
When I waked it was broad day, the weather clear
and the storm abated, so that the sea did not rage and

ROBINSON CRUSOE

swell as before. What surprised me most, however,
was that the ship had been lifted by the swelling tide
from the sand where she had lain and was driven up
almost as far as the rock against which I had been
dashed. This was within about a mile from the shore
where I was, and since the ship seemed to stand up-
right still, I wished myself on board, that, at least, I
might save some necessary things for my use.
When I came down from my apartment in the tree,
I looked about me again, and the first thing I found
was the boat, which lay as the wind and the sea had
tossed her, up upon the land, about two miles on my
right hand. I walked along the shore to reach her, but
found a neck or inlet of water about half a mile broad
between me and the boat; so I came back for the present,
being more intent upon getting at the ship, where I
hoped to find some food.
A little after noon I found the sea very calm, and
the tide ebbed so far out that I could come within a
quarter of a mile of the ship, and here I found a fresh
renewing of my grief. I saw that if we had kept on board,
we should all have reached shore in safety and I should
not have been so miserable as to be left entirely desti-
tute of all comfort and company, as I now was. This
forced tears from my eyes again, but as there was little
relief in that, I resolved, if possible, to get to the ship.
I pulled off my clothes, for the weather was hot to ex-
tremity, and took the water. When I came to the ship,
my difficulty was still greater to know how to get on

ROBINSON CRUSOE

board, for as she lay aground, and high out of the
water, there was nothing within my reach to lay hold
of. I swam round her twice, and the second time I
spied a small piece of rope, which I wondered I had
not seen at first. It hung down by the forechains so
low that with great difficulty I got-hold of it, and by
the help of that rope got up into the forecastle of the
ship. Here I found that the ship was bulged and had
a great deal of water in her hold, but that she lay so
on the side of a bank of hard sand, or rather earth, that
her stern lay lifted up upon the bank, and her head low
almost to the water. By this means all her quarter
was free, and all that was in that part was dry. You
may be sure my first work was to search to see what
was spoiled and what was free. First I found that all
the ship's provisions were dry and untouched by the
water, and being very hungry, I went to the bread
room and filled my pockets with biscuits, and ate
them as I went about other things, for I had no time
to lose. Now I wanted nothing but a boat to furnish
myself with many things which I foresaw would be
very necessary to me.
It was in vain to sit still and wish for what was not
to be had, and this extremity roused my application.
We had several spare yards, and two or three large
spars of wood, and a spare topmast or two in the ship.
I resolved to fall to work with these, and flung as many
of them overboard as I could manage for their weight,
tying every one with a rope that they might not drive

ROBINSON CRUSOE

away. When this was done I went down the ship's
side, and pulling them to me, I tied four of them fast
together at both ends, as well as I could, in the form of
a raft. Laying two or three short pieces of plank upon
them crosswise, I found that I could walk upon it very
well, but that it was not able to bear any great weight,
because the pieces were too light. So I went to work,
and with the carpenter's saw I cut a spare topmast
into three lengths, and added them to my raft, with
a great deal of labor and pains. The hope of furnish-
ing myself with necessaries encouraged me to go be-
yond what I should have been able to do upon
another occasion.
My raft was now strong enough for any reasonable
weight. My next care was what to load it with, and
how-to preserve what I laid upon it from the surf of
the sea, but I was not long considering this. I first
laid all the planks or boards upon it that I could get,
and having considered well what I most wanted, I
got three of the seamen's chests, which I had broken
open and emptied, and lowered them down upon my
raft. The first of these I filled with provisions, bread,
rice, three Dutch cheeses, five pieces of dried goat's
flesh, which we lived much upon, and a little remainder
of European grain. There had been some barley and
wheat together, but, to my great disappointment, I
found afterwards that the rats had eaten or spoiled it
all. As for liquors, I found several cases of bottles be-
longing to our skipper, in which were some cordial

ROBINSON CRUSOE

waters, and in all about five or six gallons. These I
stowed by themselves, there being no need to put them
into the chest and no room for them. While I was
doing this, I found that the tide had begun to flow,
though very calmly, and I had the mortification of
seeing my coat, shirt, and waistcoat, which I had left
on shore upon the sand, swim away. My breeches
were only linen and open-kneed, and I had swum on
board in them and my stockings. However, this set
me to rummaging for clothes, of which I found enough,
but took no more than I wanted for present use. I
had other things which my eye was more upon, such as
tools to work with on shore. It was after long search-
ing that I found the carpenter's chest, which was in-
deed a very useful prize to me, and much more valuable
than a shipload of gold would have been at that
time. I got it down to my raft, even whole as it was,
without losing time to look into it, for I knew in gen-
eral what it contained.
My next care was for some ammunition and arms.
There were two very good fowling-pieces in the great
cabin and two pistols. These I secured first, with
some powder-horns, and a small bag of shot and two
old rusty swords. I knew that there were three barrels
of powder in the ship, but knew not where our gunner
had stowed them. After much search I found them,
two of them dry and good, but the third had taken
water. Those two I got to my raft, with the arms.
Now I thought myself pretty well freighted, and began

64 ROBINSON CRUSOE

to wonder how I should get to shore with them, having
neither sail, oar, nor rudder, and the least cupful of
wind would have upset all my navigation.
I had three encouragements: a smooth, calm sea,
the tide rising arid setting into the shore, and what
little wind there was blowing me toward the land.
Thus, having found two or three broken oars belonging
to the boat, and besides the tools which were in the chest,
I found two saws, an ax, and a hammer, and with this
cargo I put to sea. For a mile, or thereabouts, my
raft went very well, except that I found it drive a little
distant from the place where I had landed before, by
which I perceived that there was some current of the
water, and consequently I hoped to find some creek
or river there, which I might make use of as a port to
get,to land with my cargo.
As I imagined, so it was. There appeared before
me a little opening of the land, and I found a strong
current of the tide set into it, so I guided my raft as
well as I could to keep in the middle of the stream.
Here I almost suffered a second shipwreck. If I had, I
think it would have broken my heart. I knew nothing
of the coast, and my raft run aground at one end of it
upon a shoal. Since it was not aground at the other
end, my cargo very nearly slipped off toward that end
that was afloat, and so into the water. I did my ut-
most, by setting my back against the chests, to keep
them in their places, but I could not thrust off the raft
with all my strength, .neither dared I stir from the po-

.T A

I'-

I did my utmost to keep the chests in their places

f,

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ROBINSON CRUSOE

sition I was in. Holding up the chests with all my
might, I stood in that manner nearly half an hour, in
which time the rising of the water brought me a little
more upon a level. A little after, the water still rising,
my raft floated again, and I thrust her off into the
channel with the oar I had. Then driving up higher,
I at length found myself in the mouth of a little river,
with land on both sides, and a strong current or tide
running up. I looked on both sides for a proper place
to get to shore, for I was not willing to be driven too
high up the river. I hoped in time to see some ship at
sea, and therefore resolved to place myself as near the
coast as I could.
At length I spied a little cove on the right shore of
the creek, to which, with great pain and difficulty, I
guided my raft, and at last got so near, that, reaching
ground with my oar, I could thrust her directly in.
But here I almost dipped all my cargo in the sea again,
for that shore sloped, so that there was no place to
land, except where one end of the float, if it ran on
shore, would lie so high, and the other sink so low,
that it would endanger my cargo. All that I could do
was to wait till the tide was at the highest, keeping the
raft with my oar like an anchor to bold the side of it
fast to the shore, near a flat piece of ground, which I
expected the water would flow over, and so it did. As
soon as I found water enough (for my raft drew about
a foot of water), I thrust her upon that flat piece of
ground, and there fastened or moored her by sticking

ROBINSON CRUSOE

my two broken oars into the ground, one on one side
near one end, and one on the other side near the other
end. Thus I lay till the water ebbed away, and left
my raft and all my cargo safe on shore.
My next work was to view the country, and seek a
proper place for my dwelling, and a place to stow my
goods to secure them from whatever might happen.
Where I was I yet knew not; whether on the continent
or on an island, whether surrounded by savages or
alone, whether in danger of wild beasts or not. There
was a hill not more than a mile from me, which rose
up very steep and high, and which seemed to overtop
some other hills which lay as in a ridge from it north-
ward. I took out one of the fowling-pieces, and one
of the pistols, and a horn of powder, and thus armed
I traveled up to the top of that hill to look over the
ground. There, after I had with great labor and diffi-
culty reached the top, I saw my fate. I was in an
island surrounded on all sides by the sea. There was
()land to be seen, except some rocks which lay a great
way off, and two small islands less than this, which
lay about three leagues to the west.
I found also that the island I was in was barren,
and, as I saw good reason to believe, uninhabited, ex-
cept by wild beasts, of whom, however, I saw none.
I saw abundance of fowls, but knew not their kinds,
neither when I killed them could I tell what was fit
for food, and what not. On my way back I shot at a
great bird, which I saw sitting upon a tree on the side

ROBINSON CRUSOE

of a wood. I believe it was the first gun that had ever
been fired there. I had no sooner fired than from all
parts of the wood there arose an innumerable number
of fowls of many sorts, making a confused screaming.
Not one of them was of a kind that I knew. As for the
creature I killed, I took it to be a kind .of hawk, its
color and beak resembling it, but it had no talons or
claws more than common; its flesh was carrion and
fit for nothing.
Satisfied with this discovery, I came back to my
raft, and fell to work to bring my cargo to shore, which
took me the rest of that day. What to do with
myself at night I knew not, nor indeed where to rest.
I was afraid to lie down on the ground, not knowing
but some wild beast might devour me, though, as I
afterwards found, there was really no need for those
fears.
However, as well as I could, I barricaded myself
round with the chests and boards that I had brought
on shore, and made a kind of hut for that night's
lodging. As for food, I yet saw not which way to supply
myself, except that I had seen two or three creatures,
like hares, run out of the wood where I shot the bird.
I now began to consider that I might yet get a
great many things out of the ship which would be use-
ful to me, and particularly some of the rigging and
sails, and such other things as might come to land,
and I resolved to make another voyage on board the
vessel, if possible. I knew that the first storm that

ROBINSON CRUSOE

blew must necessarily break her all to pieces, and I re-
solved to set all other things aside till I got everything
out of the ship that I could get. Then I called a council,
that is to say, in my thoughts, whether I should take
back the raft, but this appeared impracticable, so I
resolved to go as before, when the tide was down.
I did so, but I stripped before I went from my hut,
having nothing on but a checkered shirt and a pair of
linen trousers and a pair of pumps on my feet.
I got on board the ship, as before, and prepared a
second raft, and having had experience of the first, I
neither made this so unwieldy, nor loaded it so hard.
Yet I brought away several things very useful to me.
In the carpenter's stores I found two or three bags full
of nails and spikes, a great screw jack, a dozen or two
of hatchets, and, above all, that most useful thing
called a grindstone. All these I secured, together with
several things belonging to the gunner, particularly
two or three iron crowbars, and two barrels of musket
bullets, seven muskets, and another fowling-piece, with
some small quantity of powder more, a large bag full
of small shot, and a great roll of sheet lead. However,
this last was so heavy that I could not hoist it up to
get it over the ship's side.
Besides these things, I took all the men's clothes
that I could find and a spare foretop-sail, hammock,
and some bedding. With this I loaded my second raft,
and brought them all safe to shore, to my very great
comfort.

ROBINSON CRUSOE

I was afraid that during my absence from the
land my provisions might be devoured, but when I
came back, I found no sign of any visitor, except that
a creature like a wild cat sat upon one of the chests.
When I came toward her, she ran away a little distance,
and then stood still. She sat very composed and un-
concerned, and looked full in my face, as if she had a
mind to be acquainted with me. I leveled my gun at
her, but as she did not understand it, she was perfectly
unconcerned at it, nor did she offer to stir away. At
that I tossed her a bit of biscuit, though, by the way, I
was not very free of it, for my store was not great.
However, I spared her a bit, I say, and she went to it,
smelled it, ate it, and looked for more, but I could spare
no more, so she marched off.
When I had got my second cargo on shore, though
I was eager to open the barrels of powder, and bring them
by parcels (for they were too heavy, being large casks),
I went to work to make me a little tent with the sail and
some poles which I cut for that purpose. Into this
tent I brought everything that I knew would spoil,
either with rain or sun, and I piled all the empty chests
and casks up in a circle round the tent, to fortify
it from any sudden attempt, either from man or
beast.
When I had done this, I blocked up the door of the
tent with some boards within, and an empty chest set
up on end without. Spreading a bed on the ground,
and laying my two pistols just at my head, and my gun
6

ROBINSON CRUSOE

beside me, I went to bed for the first time, and slept
very quietly all night, for I was very weary. The night
before I had slept little, and I had worked very hard
all day.
I had the biggest magazine of all kinds now that
ever was laid up, I believe, for one man, but still I was
not satisfied. While the ship stood upright, I thought
that I ought to get everything out of her I could. Every
day at low water I went on board, and brought away
something or other. The third time I went, I brought
away as much of the rigging as I could, as also all the
small ropes and rope twine I could get, with a piece
of spare canvas, which was to mend the sails upon oc-
casion, and also the barrel of wet gunpowder. In a
word, I brought away all the sails first and last, but I
had to cut them in pieces, and bring as much at a
time as I could, for they were no longer useful as sails,
but as mere canvas only.
But that which comforted me more still was that,
last of all, after I had made five or six such voyages as
these, and thought I had nothing more to expect from
the ship that was worth my meddling with, I found a
great hogshead of bread, and three large runlets* of
rum or spirits, a box of sugar, and a barrel of fine
flour. This was surprising to me, because I had given
up expecting to find any more provisions, except what
was spoiled by the water. I soon emptied the hogshead
of that bread, and wrapped it up, parcel by parcel,
Runlet: An obsolete word for "rundlet," a wine barrel.

ROBINSON CRUSOE

in pieces of the sails, which I cut out. In a word, I got
all this safe on shore also.
The next day I made another voyage. Now that
I had plundered the ship of what was portable and fit
to hand out, I began with the cables. Cutting the
great cable into pieces, such as I could move, I got two
cables and a hawser on shore, with all the iron work
I could get. When I had cut down the spritsail-yard,
and the mizzen-yard, and everything I could to make
a large raft, I loaded it with all those heavy goods and
came away. But my good luck began now to leave
me, for this raft was so unwieldy and so overloaded,
that after I had entered the little cove, where I had
landed the rest of my goods, I could not guide it so
handily as I did the other, and it upset and threw me
and all my cargo into the water. As for myself it was
no great harm, for I was near the shore, but a great
part of my cargo was lost, especially the iron, which
I had thought would be of great use to me. However,
when the tide was out, I got most of the pieces of cable
ashore, and some of the iron, though with infinite
labor, for I had to dip for it into the water-a work
which fatigued me very much. After this, I went every
day on board and brought away what I could get.
I had been now thirteen days on shore, and had been
eleven times on board the ship, in which time I had
brought away all that one pair of hands could be well
supposed capable to bring, though I verily believe,
had the calm weather held, I should have brought

ROBINSON CRUSOE

away the whole ship, piece by-piece. But as I prepared
the twelfth time to go on board, I found that the wind
had begun to rise. However, at low water I went on
board, and though I thought I had rummaged the
cabin so effectually that nothing more could be found,
yet I discovered a locker with drawers in it, in one of
which I found two or three razors and one pair of
large scissors, with some ten or a dozen good knives
and forks. In another I found about thirty-six pounds
value in money, some European coin, some Brazil,
some pieces of eight, some gold, some silver.
I smiled to myself at the sight of this money.
"0 Drug," said I, aloud, "what art thou good
for? Thou art not worth to me, no, not the taking off
the ground. One of these knives is worth all this heap.
I have no manner of use for thee, even remain where
thou art and go to the bottom, as a creature whose
life is not worth saving."
However, upon second thought, I took it away.
Wrapping all that-I had found in a piece of canvas, I
eganto think of making another raft, but while I
was preparing this, I found the sky overcast, and the
wind rising, and in a quarter of an hour it blew a fresh
gale from the shore. It presently occurred to me that
it was in vain to pretend to make a raft with the wind
off shore, and that it was my business to be gone be-
fore the tide of flood began. Otherwise I might not be
able to reach the shore at all. Accordingly, I let myself
down into the water, and swam across the channel

ROBINSON CRUSOE

which lay between the ship and the sands, and even
that with difficulty enough, partly because of the weight
of things I had about me, and partly because of the
roughness of the water. The wind rose very hastily,
and before it was quite high water it blew a storm.
But I was home in my little tent, where I lay very
secure with all my wealth about me. It blew very
hard all that night, and in the morning when I looked
out, behold no more ship was to be seen. I was a li ttle
surprised, but comforted myself with the satisfactory
reflection that I had lost no time, nor spared any pains
to get everything out of her that could be useful to me.
Indeed, there was little left in her that I should have
been able to bring away, if I had had more time.

CHAPTER V

BUILDING MY HOME
M Y thoughts were now wholly employed with
V securing myself against either savages, if any
should appear, or wild beasts, if any were in
the island. I had many thoughts of the method how
to do this, and what kind of dwelling to make. I
considered whether I should make a cave in the earth,
or a tent upon the earth, and, finally I decided upon
both.
I soon found that the place I was in was not suit-
able for my home, partly because it was low, marshy
ground near the sea, and I believed it would not be
wholesome, and more particularly because there was
no fresh water near it. Accordingly I resolved to find
a more healthy and more convenient spot of ground.
I considered several things in choosing my loca-
tion: health and fresh water, I just now mentioned;
shelter from the heat of the sun; security from raven-
ous creatures, whether man or beast; a view of the sea,
so that if God sent any ship in sight, I might not lose
any advantage for my deliverance, of which I was not
willing to banish all hope yet.
In search of a place proper for this, I found a little
plain on the side of a rising hill. The front toward this
little plain was as steep as a house side, so that nothing
74

ROBINSON CRUSOE

could come down upon me from the top. On the side
of this rock there was a hollow place, worn a little way
in, like the entrance or door of a cave, but there was
not really any cave or way into the rock at all.
On the flat of the green, just before this hollow
place, I resolved to pitch my tent. This plain was not
above an hundred yards broad, and about twice as
long, and lay like a green before my door. At the end
it descended irregularly into the low grounds by the
seaside. It was on the N. N. W. side of the hill, so that'
I was sheltered from the heat every day, till it came to a
W. and by S. sun, or thereabouts, which in those
countries is near the setting.
Before I set up my tent, I drew a half circle before
the hollow place, which took in about ten yards in its
semi-diameter, from the rock, and twenty yards in its
diameter, from its beginning and ending.
In this half circle I pitched two rows' of strong
stakes, driving them into the ground till they stood
very firm, like piles, the biggest end being out of the
ground about five feet and a half, and sharpened on
the top. The two rows did not stand more than six
inches from one another.
Then I took the pieces of cable which I had cut in
the ship, and laid them in rows one upon another,
within the circle between these two rows of stakes, up
to the top. I placed other stakes in the inside, leaning
against them, about two foot and a half high, like a
spur to a post. This fence was so strong that neither

ROBINSON CRUSOE

man nor beast could get into it or over it. This cost
me a great deal of time and labor, especially to cut
the piles in the woods, bring them to the place, and
drive them into the earth.
The entrance into this place I made to be not by a
door, but by a short ladder to go over the top. When
I was in, I lifted the ladder over after me, and so
I was completely fenced in and fortified, as I thought,
from all the world. Consequently I slept secure in the
'night, which otherwise I could not have done. As it
appeared afterwards, however, there was no need of all
this caution from the enemies that I feared.
Into this fence or fortress, with infinite labor, I
carried all my riches, all my provisions, ammunition,
and stores, of which you have the account above. To
protect me from the rains, which in one part of the
year are very violent there, I made a large, double tent,
one smaller tent within, and one larger tent above
it. I covered the uppermost with a large tarpaulin
which I had saved among the sails.
I no longer slept in the bed which I had brought on
shore, but in a hammock, which was indeed a very
good one, and had belonged to the mate of the ship.
Into my tent I brought all my provisions, and every-
thing that would spoil by the wet. When I had brought
my goods I closed up the entrance, which till now I had
left open, and after that passed and repassed, as I
said, by a short ladder.
When I had done this, I began to work my way into

-ROBINSON CRUSOE

the rock. I brought all the earth and stones that I
dug down out through my tent, and laid them up with-
in my fence in the nature of a terrace so that it raised
the ground about a foot and a half. Thus I made a
cave just behind my tent, which served me as a cellar
to my house.
It cost me much labor and many days, before all
these things were brought to perfection, and there-
fore I must go back to some other things which took
up some of my thoughts. At the same time it happened,
after I had laid my scheme for the setting up my tent
and making the cave, that a storm of rain fell from a
thick, dark cloud, there was a sudden flash of lightning,
and after that a great clap of thunder. I was not so
much surprised by the lightning, as I was terrified by
a thought which darted into my mind as swift as the
lightning itself. My powder! My very heart sank
within me, when I thought that at one blast all my
powder might be destroyed, on which, not my defense
only, but the providing food, as I thought, entirely
depended. I was not nearly so anxious about my
own danger, although, had the powder taken fire, I
should never have known what had hurt me.
Such impression did this make upon me, that after
the storm was over I laid aside all my works, my build-
ing and fortifying, and applied myself to making bags
and boxes to separate the powder. I put but little in
each package and then hid the box, or bag, in the rocks
as far from the others as I could. I did this in the hope

ROBINSON CRUSOE

that even if one part of my powder was struck, the rest
might be saved. I finished this work in about a fort-
night, and I think my powder, which in all was about
two hundred and forty pounds, was divided in not
less than a hundred parcels. As to the barrel that had
been wet, I did not expect any danger from that, so I
placed it in my new cave, which, in my fancy, I called
my kitchen. The rest I hid up and down in holes among
the rocks, so that no wet might come to it, marking
very carefully where I laid it.
In the interval of time while I was doing this, I
went out once at least every day with my gun, as well
to divert myself as to see if I could kill anything fit for
food, and, as near as I could, to acquaint myself with
what the island produced. The first time I went out
I presently discovered that there were goats in the
island, which was a great satisfaction to me, but then
it was attended with this misfortune, that they were so
shy, so subtle, and so swift of foot, that it was the most
difficult thing in the world to come at them. But I
was not discouraged at this, not doubting that I
might now and then shoot one, as it soon happened.
After I had found their haunts, I laid wait in this
manner for them. I observed that if they saw me in
the valleys, though they were upon the rocks, they
would run away as in a terrible fright, but if they were
feeding in the valleys, and I was upon the rocks, they
took no notice of me. From this I concluded that by
the position of their eyes, their sight was so directed

ROBINSON CRUSOE

downward, that they did not readily see objects that
were above them, so afterwards I took this method. I
always climbed the rocks first, to get above them, and
then I had frequently a fair mark. The first shot I made
among these creatures I killed a she-goat, which had
a little kid by her. This grieved me greatly, but when
the old one fell, the kid stood stock-still by her till I
came and took her up. Not only so, but when I carried
the old one with me upon my shoulders, the kid fol-
lowed me quite to my inclosure. Upon this I laid down
the dam, and took the kid in my arms and carried it
over my pale, in the hope of taming it, but it would not
eat, so I was forced to kill it and eat it myself. These
two supplied me with flesh a great while, for I ate
sparingly, and saved my provisions (my bread es-
pecially) as much as I possibly could.
Now that I had fixed my habitation, I found it ab-
solutely necessary to provide a place to make a fire in,
and fuel to burn. What I did for that, as also how I
enlarged my cave, and what conveniences I made, I
shall give a full account of in its place, but I must
first give some little account of myself, and of my
thoughts about living, which it may well be supposed
were not a few.
My outlook was dismal, for as I was not cast away
upon that island without being driven, as is said, by
a violent storm quite out of the course of our intended
voyage, and a great way, some hundreds of leagues,
out of the ordinary course of the trade of mankind, I

ROBINSON CRUSOE

had great reason to consider it as a determination of
Heaven that in this desolate place and in this desolate
manner, I should end my life. The tears would run
plentifully down my face when I made these reflections,
and sometimes I would wonder why Providence should
thus completely ruin his creatures, and render them so
absolutely miserable, so without help, so entirely de-
pressed, that it could hardly be rational to be thankful
for such a life.
But something, always returned swift upon me to
check these thoughts and reprove me. I remember
particularly one day when I was walking with my gun
in my hand by the seaside, I was very pensive upon the
subject of my present condition, when reason, as it
were, expostulated with me the other way, thus: "Well,
you are in a desolate condition, it is true; but pray re-
member, where are the rest of you? Did not eleven of
you come into the boat? Where are the ten? Why
were they not saved and you lost? Why were you
singled out? Is it better to be here or there? All evils
are to be considered with the good that is in them, and
with what worse attends them."
Then it occurred to me again, how well I was fur-
nished for my subsistence, and what would have been
my case if it had not happened, which was a hundred
thousand to one, that the ship floated from the place
where she first struck, and was driven so near the shore
that I had time to get all these things out of her.
What would have been my case if I had had to live in